heartstrings

At dusk, the setting sun shines at night.

There were still only two people eating at the table.

It has been like this for so many years, Ke Ruochu has long been used to it.

"You have a performance next weekend, right? Mom is going to cheer you on." Yuan Luzhi lowered her head and said very fast. Because of her job, she usually pays attention to efficiency and saves time in everything she does. One minute can be broken into two minutes.

When they were in the art department of the school, Ke Ruochu and Bai Meng would occasionally take on some performances. Although they quit the club when they were graduate students, they would also participate as long as they had the opportunity and time.

"If you're busy, you don't need to make time to come here." Ke Ruochu said softly.

"You can take a vacation next weekend, and besides, Mom hasn't seen your performance for a long time." Yuan Luzhi said, and brought some vegetables for Ke Ruochu, "Eat more, I seem to have lost weight recently, is the hospital busy?"

"It's okay." Ke Ruochu looked down at the celery pieces in the bowl, his eyes were sad, so after all these years, her mother still couldn't remember that she didn't like celery.

In other words, her mother never cared what she really liked and disliked.

From childhood to adulthood, Yuan Luzhi defined her likes and dislikes. For example, playing the piano, Yuan Luzhi felt that girls playing the piano had temperament, so she let her learn from an early age.

So she "likes" practicing piano.

Eat half of the meal.

"Come on, take a look."

Ke Ruochu looked up, only to see Yuan Luzhi handing over the phone. On the screen of the phone was a photo of a strange man, wearing glasses, with a bookish air.

"A few years older than you, he is currently studying for a Ph.D. in the United States, focusing on neurosurgery. He is quite tall at 1.8 meters five. I have met him in person, and the young man is not bad..." Yuan Luzhi didn't pay attention to the expression on Ke Ruochu's face , just talking smoothly according to his own plan.

"Mom, what do you mean?" Ke Ruochu put down his chopsticks, and rarely interrupted Yuan Luzhi's speech.

"President Song's son recently returned to China. Let's have dinner together another day. You know him well. If we can chat..."

The meaning is obvious enough.

Ke Ruochu bit her lip, and after a long time, she endured the grievance and said in a low voice, "Can you respect my opinion?"

"Why don't I respect your ideas? Am I asking for your opinion now? Besides, mom will choose the best quality objects for you under strict control. Even if you can't date, you can be friends. In the future, you can go There are multiple acquaintances around the United States to take care of them, isn't it good?"

"When did I agree to go abroad?" Ke Ruochu was even more suffocated at the mention of going abroad.

"What a great opportunity to go abroad. Back then, my mother didn't have the conditions to go abroad. Can you understand my painstaking efforts?" Yuan Luzhi said, and she simply said, "Also, can you also fight for your strength in the hospital and school? Perform a little better, your tutors and professors are all mom's old classmates and old friends, can you not make mom look down?"

This is not the first time I heard these words.

Ke Ruochu was silent for a long time.

Yuan Luzhi sighed, "Eat."

"I'm stuffed."

"Are you full after just a few bites?"

Ke Ruochu didn't answer, got up suddenly and went to the bedroom.

"It really makes me worry more and more as I get older." Yuan Luzhi put down the chopsticks in her hand and complained angrily, looking at more than half of the dishes left on the table, she lost her appetite in an instant.

bedroom.

Lying on the sofa, Ke Ruochu hugged a pillow in her arms. This was the reason why she didn't want to go home. Almost every time she and her mother had trouble breaking up.

Ke Ruochu opened the side drawer, and there was a faded old photo inside.

One of the few group photos of a family of three.

Ke Ruochu looked at the little girl above, his memory was as blurred as the photo...

Her parents divorced when she was in elementary school, and Yuan Luzhi was strong in everything, which naturally included fighting for custody.When she was a child, Ke Ruochu thought that her father had abandoned her and her mother, so she was much more well-behaved than ordinary children, and she didn't dare to make Yuan Luzhi angry, and she kept promises in everything.

After she became sensible, Ke Ruochu realized that the divorce was not entirely her father's fault, but probably also related to her mother's personality.

Hobbies and hobbies have to be managed, career planning has to be managed, and now they are beginning to intervene in relationship issues, Ke Ruochu also expected that today will happen, thinking of what Yuan Luzhi told her at the dinner table, it gave her another headache.

The door was pushed open suddenly.

Ke Ruochu quickly hid the photo in his hand.

For her mother, her father is "taboo".

Yuan Luzhi glanced at Ke Ruochu, then put down a plate of freshly washed fruit on the coffee table, turned around and left the room without saying a word.

Ke Ruochu didn't speak either.

There was zero communication between the mother and daughter.

Looking at the fruit on the coffee table, Ke Ruochu knew that it was true that her mother cared about her, but it was also true that she did not consider her feelings.

"It's all off work, why do you still have a bitter face?"

Bai Meng suddenly appeared from behind Ke Ruochu, so startled that Ke Ruochu almost spilled the coffee in his hand.

"My mother is telling me about going abroad again."

"That's it?" Bai Meng felt that this was a trivial matter, so there was no need to frown, "Just say that you don't want to go abroad, could it be that she can still tie you up?"

Ke Ruochu smiled wryly.

"By the way, Dr. Ke," Bai Meng put his arm around Ke Ruochu's shoulder, and suddenly asked with a soft smile, "Has my sister contacted you recently?"

Ke Ruochu was confused, thinking he had heard wrong, "What?"

"She specifically asked me for your contact information."

Now Ke Ruochu was even more surprised, "Why does she want my contact information?"

"Why else do you think?" Bai Meng stared at Ke Ruochu's face and said seriously, "It's probably because he is interested in you and wants to chase you."

Hearing "I want to chase you", Sheng Ruqi's face flashed in Ke Ruochu's mind, his heart beat a few beats in vain, and after thinking about it, "You're talking nonsense again, how could it be..."

Bai Meng couldn't help laughing.

With Bai Meng's smile like this, Ke Ruochu was even more sure that she was joking. Usually, eight out of ten sentences out of Miss Bai's mouth were unbelievable, and two of them were embellished.

Bai Meng returned to her normal tone, "It seems that you dropped something at her house."

"what?"

"I don't know, she should contact you. I'll answer the phone..." Bai Meng took out the vibrating mobile phone from her pocket and answered, "Well... still in the hospital... already off work... All right... let's go there..."

"Ruochu, I'm leaving first, my boyfriend is still waiting for me."

"Oh, good." After Bai Meng turned around, Ke Ruochu was slow to realize, when did she have a new boyfriend? !But it's not surprising, Bai Meng's frequency of changing partners is not low.

Seeing the back of Bai Meng leaving in a cool way, Ke Ruochu was actually quite envious, if only he could go his own way like Bai Meng, as if he dared to refute anything.Ke Ruochu always has a good impression of people with a free and easy personality, probably because she can't do it herself.

Free and easy, Ke Ruochu thought of Sheng Ruqi again... A woman like her is mature, beautiful, gentle and sensual, so many people should pursue her, but as Bai Meng said, she needs someone to introduce her.

Bai Meng really likes to talk nonsense.

Bai Meng left in a cool manner, while Ke Ruochu was alone looking at the phone, feeling sad.On the screen of the phone was a message from Yuan Luzhi in the afternoon: [At eight o'clock tonight, I invited Uncle Song and his son to have dinner together at S Hotel].

I didn't expect the blind date bureau to come so quickly.

Ke Ruochu originally planned to ask Bai Meng to have dinner together in the evening, so he could find a reason to escape.

As a result, Bai Meng has a date tonight.

Ke Ruochu was holding back an excuse in his mind when the phone rang suddenly.The caller ID is an unfamiliar number in the same city.

not……

Because what Bai Meng said, Ke Ruochu's first reaction was her, and after hesitating for a while, "Hello?"

There was a pleasant chuckle from the other end of the phone, "It's me..."

It really is her.Although the other party only said two words, Ke Ruochu recognized the voice and tone immediately, "Sister."

Sheng Ruqi was sitting in the office and talking on the phone, but before she finished speaking, she heard the other party call her "sister".

The voice is soft, but it still smells familiar.

Sheng Ruqi raised her eyebrows, quite surprised, she asked with a smile, "Remember me?"

"Hmm..." Ke Ruochu slandered as he spoke, of course he remembered that he gave her his first kiss, and he probably would remember it clearly in his life.

"I asked Bai Meng for your phone number."

"Mengmeng told me."

"Did you drop a necklace?"

necklace?After being reminded by Sheng Ruqi, Ke Ruochu had an impression. When she was about to throw away the necklace, she couldn't find it. Ke Ruochu thought she wasn't going to want it anyway. It's Sheng Ruqin. "It's missing one..."

"It fell at my house last time." Sheng Ruqi leaned on the swivel chair, thought for a moment, and then asked, "When do you have time? Last time you were wronged, I treated you to dinner and returned the necklace to you by the way."

Sheng Ruqi felt very sorry for what happened last time.

As soon as he heard about eating together, Ke Ruochu replied without thinking, "I have time now!"

After finishing speaking, Ke Ruochu felt that she was abrupt. She was in such a hurry when someone just said that she wanted to treat her to dinner.But she really didn't want to attend the dinner arranged by Yuan Luzhi.A blind date with her mother around, no need to think about how scary it would be.

"Sister," Ke Ruochu tried to ask again, "Can it be just tonight?"

Just tonight, the tone was full of impatience.

It seems that this little white rabbit seems to be quite happy to "tangle" with himself.Sheng Ruqi was worried that no one would accompany her to dinner at night, and she did owe that girl a favor last time, "Okay, just tonight."